Improvement in pumps



UNITED STATES PATENT Carica..

A. e. GRAY, on LoNDoN, ENGLAND.

IMPRCVEMENT IN PUMPS.

Specication forming part of LettersPatent No. 39,728, dated September 1, 1863; antedated March l1, 1862.

same, wherein I have set forth the nature and.

principles of my said improvements whereby my invention may be distinguished from all others of a similar class, together with suchl parts as I claim and desire to have secured to me by Letters Patent.

The present invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in the arrangement of Amechanical devices for the working of ships7 pumps; and it consists in attaching to one end of a right-angular swinging arm the upper end of the piston-rod of an ordinary ships pump, while the other end, having a suitable frictionroller, travels in or upon a peculiarly-formedl inclined channel or groove formed upon the exterior surface of a revolving drum or cylinder and extending entirelyr around the same, the said groove being so formed thereon as to cause the right-angular lever-arm traveling in or upon the same to be oscillated or 4reciprocately moved in a vertical plane a sufficient distance to raise and lower the piston-rod attached thereto, and thereby operate the pump as desired.

The principal objects aimed at and secured in the present invention are to obviate in a great measure the friction of the parts employed for operating the pumps, and thus to increase the effective power of the same, to convey the power applied for the working of the pumps to their piston-rods in as direct a manner and with the least complexity of intermediate mechanical devices as possible, and finally to so arrange or construct the mechanism employed as to counteract the tendency of the vacuum 7 or partial vacuum necessarily formed below the piston-box to draw back the piston, and also to produce a too sudden reverse in the motion of the same, the advantages resulting from which are evident, and need not be herein specified. This last result I accomplish by securing to lthe right-angular lever-arm or its shaft a weight, either susceptible of adjustment or not, which overcomes, as it were, the effects of the vacuum, formed as described, and thus prevents the sudden movement of the piston-rod, as well as also materially assisting in the raising of the water contained within the pump.

VIn the accompanying plate of drawings my improvements are represented, and of which Figure l is a plan or top view; Fig. 2, an end view; Fig. 3, a, central longitudinal vertical section 5 and Fig. 4, a longitudinal vertical section taken in the plane of the line A B, Fig. l,

a, a in the accompanying drawings ,reprerent the ordinary rife-rail of a vessel, surrounding the mast b of `the same; c, a horizontal shaft, turning in suitable bearings of the stretcher-bars d and e of the said iife-rail a a. Attached and firmly secured to the said shaft c, and placed between the two bars d and e is a closed hollow cylinder or drum, f, to which a rotary motion may be Aimparted by means of the winch g, or in any other proper manner. y,

Upon t-he exterior surface of this drum f, and

extending around the same, I have arranged the two raised lips or cams h and i, the one, h, of which, starting from a poink, 7c, of the cylinder, passes in a spiral direction through about three-quarters of the periphery of the drum to the point l, the horizontal distance traversed by the same being equal, or nearly so, to the length of stroke of the pumps, plunger, or piston-rod m.

Extending between and joining the two points 7c and l, and thus forming onel continuous lip around the cylinder, is the other lip, i, parallel with which, throughout its entire distance, is another raised lip, o, leaving a groove or way, p, between their inside surfaces.

' Bearing against and traveling upon the surface n of the two lips h and i, as the drum of the same is revolved, is the friction-roller q of the upright arm r of a swinging right-angular lever arm, s. To the end t of the said arm r is attached by a pivot, t', the upper end, u, of the plunger m of the pump a, the said rightangular arm being attached at or near its angle to a horizontal transverse shaft, a, having bearings in the standard fw and Elfe-rail a a.. Thus it will he seen that upon each revolution of the drum the right-angular arm connected with the camway thereof, by the frictionroller q, will be made to move back and forth or oscillate in a vertical plane, thereby lifting or lowering the piston-rod and operating the `pump, as desired, in each revolution the groove or channel p, as the friction-roller q passes through the same, causing it (the piston-rod) to descend, after having been first raised by the action of the cam-lip It of the said drum.

From the above description it is evident that by constructing the camway of the drum for operating the pumps, as described-that is, with two lips, one of which is continuous, while the other extends but a short distance around the same-a great amount of friction is consequently prevented, thus producing a more effective result.

To obviate the tendency which the vacuum or partial vacuum formed below the box ofthe pum ps plunger as it is raised has to draw the plunger back and render its motion unsteady and too sudden, I have arranged upon the shaft ofthe swinging angular arm s a weight, w, which serves not only to overcome and counterbalance the vacuum, but also, as is evident, to facilitate the lifting ofthe water within the pump-cylinder.

In the drawings two pumps are represented upon opposite sides of the cylindrical drum, and with their respective friction-rollers of their ri ght-angular arms situated at points of the drum diametrically opposite to each other, the arrangement and mode of operation of the same being substantially as described.

y Toenable a greater force to be applied to the pumps, should occasion require it, than canbe obtained through the winch herein referred to, I have placed upon the further end of the longitudinal shaft c a bevel gear-wheel, y, engaging with another similar gear-wheel, z, upon the transverse shaft b', to the ends c c of which cranks may be attached, and additional power thus readily applied, these gears y andz being susceptible of being disconnected at pleasure by simply sliding the shaft b', in which position the shaft b is held by a clutch, d', engaging with the same.

It will be apparent that, from the peculiar manner in which the camway for operating t of vacuum, &c., as is evident without further.

description, the said weight being at all times upon the opposite side 0f the shaft c to the pump being worked.

Having thus described my improvements, I shall state my claims as follows:

What I claim as my invention, and desire t-o have secured to me by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of the peculiarly-constructed driving-cam, with the right-angular lever arm s, arranged and operatic g a pump, substantially as described.

2. The use of a weight or its equivalent, either adjustable or not, so arranged in regard to and operating with the lever-arm s as to counteract the tendency of the piston-rod to be drawn back by the formation of a vacuum in the pump, substantially as described,

A. G. GRAY.

Witnesses:

PETER STUBs, JOSEPH V. RoUsE. 

